Newsletters

October 1998

God Working at U of M

I had an opportunity to be on campus at Michigan during the first day of classes and help with student surveys. We stood at bus stops around campus and passed out surveys (see below) for students to fill out while they waited. These surveys gave us an idea of their interest in knowing more about having a relationship with God and their interest in being a part of a Bible study. The pizza coupon was incentive for students to fill out the survey.

We passed out surveys for most of the day. In the afternoon I went with Brian Langford, another staff member at Michigan, as we invited students who had expressed interest to a Bible study that evening in their dorm. Later that evening I was able to go with John, a Michigan student as he and other students invited men in their dorm to come to the Bible study being held there. 
Most students were surprised to see us so quickly after having filled out the survey, but we feel we need to reach them quickly before they fill up their schedule with other activities. It is our desire to see these students make their relationship with God and serving Him a priority in their lives. That is why we work hard to get them involved in a Bible study the first day of classes.

God is truly at work at the University of Michigan! The dorm that John and the other students live in had little student involvement in Campus Crusade last year. This year on the first day of classes we had 32 students show up to this first Bible study! It is our prayer that the students who come to these Bible studies will grow closer to God through their involvement in Campus Crusade and will desire to be a part of reaching students at Michigan with the message of how they may have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

It was a long day but it was great to meet the students involved in Campus Crusade, to see their heart for reaching their campus and see God begin to work in drawing students at Michigan into an intimate and fruitful relationship with Himself. 

Do you know?

There are 14 million college students on 3500 college campuses in the United States.
There are Campus Crusade staff on only 150 of those campuses.
Campus Crusade has a presence on 521 more of those campuses. Having a presence on campus means that the campus has a Crusade movement but that that movement is part of the catalytic ministry of Campus Crusade (see last section).

Our ministry at the University of Michigan is a part of the Great Lakes region for the campus ministry of Campus Crusade. This region includes Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois. There are ten other regions in the United States. Our region is tied with the Northeast and the Pacific Southwest for the greatest population of students at 2.1 million. There are 500 campuses in the Great Lakes region with 23 staffed campuses and a presence on 50 more.

There is a branch of the campus ministy called the catalytic ministry which seeks to establish a movement on every college campus in the United States. Staff with the catalytic ministry go to a number of campuses on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. They find Christian students who want to reach their campus for Christ, then train them in evangelism and discipleship and on how to run a Campus Crusade movement on the campus. They also provide accountability and encouragement for these students and try to be a resource for helping these students develop a Crusade movement on campus.

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